Wood de fobest



(No Model.)

J. BAYNES.

METHOD OF ORNAMENTING WATCH GASES.

No. 389,917. Patented Sept. 25, 1888.

UNITED STATES J 0H1? BAYNES, OF YVESTCHESTER, ASSIGNOR OF ONE-FOURTH TOLOOK WOOD DE FOREST, OF OYSTER BAY, NEW YORK.

METHOD OF ORNAMENTlNG WATCH-CASES.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 389,917, datedSeptember 25, 1888.

(No model.)

To all whom, it may concern:

Be it known that I, Jorrn BAYNES, a subject of the Queen of GreatBritain, residing at Westchester, in the county of Westchester and Stateof New York, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in theMethod of Ur namenting atch-Cases and other Articles, of which thefollowing is a specification.

My invention relates to the manufacture of different articles-aswatchcaseswases, lamp shades, and other articl es thesurfaces of whi chare ornamented, in whole or in part, by cutting suitable patternsthereon, and especially to the manufacture of such articles when thesurfaces to be ornamented are curved or irregular in form; and myinvention consists in the mode, hereinafter set forth,of producing anydesired pattern upon the coated surfaces of such articles by means oflight-rays without distorting the pattern or impairing the ontlines,andwithout the use of patternplatcs conforming in shape to the surfaces ofthe articles.

1n the accompanying drawing 1 have shown in sectional elevation anapparatus for the p u rpose of illustrating one mode of carrying out myinvention.

In the ornamentation of certain classes of articles it is desirable tocoat the surfaces with a resist sensitive to the action of light, and toact upon this coated surface by light passing through pattern plates ornegatives,which affects the portion acted upon,so as to render it solnble or insoluble, as the case may be, permitting its partial removal toexpose the sun face of the article, which may then be etched or cut bymeans of acids, samtblast, or other wise. No dilficulty is experiencedin securing sharply-defined outlines,when the patternplate can bebrought in close contact with the coated surface; butin many instances,andin the manufacture of many articles-such as vases, watclrcases,lampshades, and other articles of rounded or irregular l'orms itis notpossible to bring the patternplate into contact with the coated surfaceat more than a single point, and it has been found that in attempting toornamentsu ch articlesin the manner described the light-rays arediffused after passing through the pattern-plate, so as to enlarge thepattern and impair the sharpness of the outline,

this result ensuing whether the light is trans mitted from the sun,which moves during the operation, and therefore varies the position ofthe rays upon the coated surface, or from an artificial source of light,from which the rays diverge through the pattern plate, both of whichcauses aggravate the difficulties due to the diffusion of light.

The objects of my invention are to avoid any variation in the size ofthe pattern, to secure sharply-defined edges or outlines, and to effectthese results without the necessity of making patternplates tocorrespond in form to the irregular or curved forms of the surfaces tobe operated upon.

In effecting these objects I employ a patternplate, 13, which may beflat, and may be either a photographic positive or negative, or anopaque sheet having the desired pattern cut therefrom, or a sheet ofglass supporting pieces of foil or other opaque material arranged toproduce the desired pattern; and this sheet I place, as nearly as maybe, parallel to the gen eral plane of the article to be ornamented-as,

for instance, to the surface of a watch-case, A, but at such a distancetherefrom as to leave an intervening air space, no attempt being made tobring the pattern-plate into contact with the article. The article iscoated with any suitable resist, sensitive to the action of light--as,for instance, with asphalt-and I prefer to arrange the pattern-plate andthe article within a tube, which will tend to prevent diffusion oflight, and in any suitable manner I cause the rays of light to passthrough the pattern-plate at right angles to the plane thereof and inlines parallel with each other, so that the shadow cast by the pattern-plate upon the articleshall equal in sharp ness of outline thepattern upon the plate. Difi'erent means may be employed for securing ormaintaining parallelism of the light-rays. Where the source of light isstatiOnary-as, for instance, an electric lightit is sufficient to throwthe rays through the pattern-plate at right angles to the plane thereof,which may be effected by means of a lens, 0, (shown by dotted lines;)but where the source oflight is the sunit is necessary to maintaincoincidence of the parts with the movements of the sun, for whichpurpose I mount the holder or case L,which supports the said parts-thatis, the pattern-plate and the articleupon a suitable standard operatedby clock work mechanism and constructed to permit the parts to beadjusted to bring the patternplate at right angles to the lines ofsunlight, and to thereafter maintain such a movement of the support aswill prevent any change in the position of the rays falling upon thearticle through thepatternplate. Such a support consists of a standard,I, a shaft, J, extending through the standard and connected toclock-work mechanism D, which moves it at the desired speed, and jointedconnections K between the shaft and the support of the case L. I neednot describe these devices more in detail, as they constitute thesubject for a separate application for Let ters Patent, Serial No. 187,459.

Any resist which would serve the purposes above described is necessarilyof such a character as to require something more than an instantaneousexposure, and it therefore is essential to the perfect carrying out ofthe process of ornamentation to employ some means, as specified, ofmaintaining constantly the relation of the parts to the light-rays whichact upon the resist. After the exposure has been effected for asuflicient length of time the article is removed, the insoluble portionsof the resist are dissolved away, and the surface of the article is thenexposed to the action of the cutting agent, whatever it may be.

I am aware that it is not new to arrange a pattern-plate ata distancefrom the surface of the article to be affected by the rays of lightpassing through the pattern-plate-as, for instance, in photographingupon porcelain surfacesbut in such case no attempt has been made tosecure parallel rays at right angles to the pattern-plate to maintainthe position of the light-rays upon the surface of the article, thiseffectin fact not being required, because in most instances the exposureis for a Very short period of time, and it is desirable to have the raysdiverge so as to increase the size of the pattern upon the article overthat upon the pattern-plate.

I am also aware that in cases where direct rays of sunlight have beenemployed in connection with pattern-plates and articles to be operatedupon photographically it is not new to arrange the pattern-plates atsubstantially right angles with the rays of light for the purpose ofsecuring sharp outlines in the picture; but in such cases, as in thefirst, the exposure is for. a very short period. No attempt is thereforemade to automatically move the parts to maintain them in the samerelation in respect to the rays of light, and the article and the plateare always so adjusted as to leave practically no intervening air-spacebetween the two.

By my above-described improvement I am enabled to make very manyarticles which by the processes heretofore known it would not bepracticable to produce without either the closejuxtaposition to it, andunder the action of light and accompanying heat the resist is apt tothrow off fumes which obscure effects or delay operation if such fumesare confined to the small space left by a pattern in contact with aportion or portions of the surface to be acted upon.

I am aware that it is not new to coat surfaces to be ornamented with afilm which is sensitive to the action of light and a resist to acid andto photograph upon such coating by the use of an ordinary camera havingdiverging or converging rays; I am also aware of the patent to Hamiltonfor improvement in photographicprinting apparatus, dated April 12, 1870,No. 101,728, but my process differs from anything suggested by suchprior state of the art for the following reasons: A film which is bothsensitive to the action of light and a resist to acid is, in the natureof things, thicker than an ordinary photographic film, which is not intended to be so used, because in order to make such film a practicalresist it must have avery appreciable thickness. \Vith such a film it isparticularly important, if it is subsequently to be acted upon by acids,that the rays of light falling upon it, and which tend to make theportions of its surface so affected insoluble, should be parallel raysfalling upon the film at right angles or nearly so. This will beapparent from a consideration of the following masons:

Films of the above nature are generally made of asphalt or othermaterial through which the light penetrates with difficulty. Ifdiverging or converging rays are used upon such a film having thenecessary thickness with theintention of rendering such surfaceinsolubleentirely through, it is apparent that such diverging or converging rayswould have a greater thickness to pass through than if the rays areparallel and at right angles to the surface,and hence there will be agreat economy of time in using such parallel rays. This economy I havefound by experience is not less than the saving of three-fourths of thetime ordinarily employed; and inasmuch as the available light admittedby an ordinary camera-lens is proportional to the area of the lens,whereas by the use of parallel rays as much light can be utilized as canfall directly upon the entire surface to be acted upon, and as Icontemplate decorating very large articles by my process, the saving oftime is, as compared with such other processes, as I have found byexperience, often in the proportion of twenty to one in favor of myprocess. Again, the use of diverg- IIIC ing or converging rays upon afilm of the appreciable thickness, which is requiredwhen the film isintended as a resist to acid, tends to affect the portions of the filmwhich are underneath or behind those portions of the pattern which donot admit light and tends to always blur and sometimes to entirelydestroy the finer portions or lines intended to be left by the pattern.Again, when diverging or converging rays of light are used with such afilm there will be a much greater irregularity in the character of thework produced owing to the fact that the slightest irregularities on thesurface of the film will, by reason of the comparative thickness of thefilm, cause material variations in the amount of light admitted underthe portions intending not to be affected, thereby impairing theaccuracy of the result. These and other difficulties are due to the useof ordinary cameras, and have been recognized. (See The Year Book ofPhotography for 1884, pages 107-110.) Endeavors have been made toobviate them; but no one, so far as I am aware, has practiced either ofthe forms of process described and claimed by me to overcome thedifficulties due to the use of a film adapted to resist acid or overcomesuch difficulties by the use of parallel rays of light.

Without limiting myself to the precise construction and arrangementofparts shown, and without limiting myself to acting upon curved orirregular surfaces, except when so specifier in the claims, I claim- 1.The within-describedimprovement in the art of ornamenting articles,which consists in coating the surface to be ornamented with a film whichis sensitive to the action of light and a resist to acid, and thentransmitting parallel light-rays to the said surface through apattern-plate arranged at right angles to said rays, substantially asset forth.

2. The withindescribed improvement in or namenting the surface ofarticles, which coir sists in coating such surface with afilm which issensitive to the action of light and a resist to acid, and transmittingparallel rays oflight at right angles through a pattern-plate arrangedat a distance from the said surface so as to leave an interveningair-space, substan tially as set forth.

3. The within-described improvement in on namenting the surfaces ofarticles, which consists in coating said surface with a film which issensitive to the action of light and a resist to acid, and then actingupon the same through a patternplatc arranged at right angles toparallel rays of light transmitted from a source of light, with respectto which the pattern and surface to be acted upon is during the operation maintained in substantially the same po sition.

4. The wit-hindescribed improvement in or namenting curved and irregularsurfaces, which consists of subj ectiug the surfaces coated with asubstance sensitive to light to the action of parallel light-rayspassing at right angles through a patteraplate onto the coated surface,and maintained in the same position in respect to the light-rays and thearticle, substantially as set forth.

5. The withindescribed improvementin the art of ornamenting surfaces,which consists of coating such surfaces with a film sensitive to theaction of light and a resist to acid, acting upon said resist bylight-rays passing in parallel lines through and at right angles to pattern-plates, arranged to leave an intervening air-space betweenthe'coated surface and the plate, and then dissolving the solubleportion of the resist and cutting away the exposed surfaces of thearticles, all substantially as hereinbefore set forth.

In testimony whereof I have signed my name to this specification in thepresence of two subscribing witnesses.

JO HN BAYNES.

lvitnessesz V BERNARD J. Knnnv. LOOKWOOD DE Fonnsr.

